a little background

hi, my name is mandy and I have two amazing little boys. My oldest son, Ty, has been diagnosed with autism (which is what you will read most about in this blog); I also have Tripp, who is an amazing little brother to Ty (who you will also hear alot about). I was encouraged to start this blog to document our journey through life and life with autism... my world has been rocked in last few years and i have responded in good ways and bad ... but Jesus has gotten me through all of it...

i hope i can be an encouragement to you, and for the friends and family that will read this - maybe this will keep you posted indepth on what Ty is learning! :) and the adventures of Tripp too

thank you for reading, and if you have any questions, comments or smart remarks; feel free to post them.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Well, before I get to confessions here is an update on my little man. We are still going to therapy 2 times a week in Hattiesburg and he is doing great with the 1.5 hour car rides... there are days that are better than others but he is doing much better than he was a few months ago. He is constantly changing, he is listening really well, he will point to things that he wants to share with you. For example, if he is playing angry birds and he knocks all the pigs down he will point to it and begin "talking" (now, when i say talking its more of "ah eh uh uh eh ah" but I am positive he is telling us something and we just don't speak his language and he is so desperately trying to speak ours). Also we are all out at the slip n slide this past weekend and instead of running off and wanting me to chase him he stood by the puddle of water at the end of the slide, pointed to it and started "talking" so I said "yes you can play in the water" and he jumped right in. Then he looked at me, pointed to the driveway and started "talking" and I said "No, lets stay here" and he did?! So these are all great things!

Potty training is still a learning process for all of us... but we are working on it.

Tripp is becoming more of an amazing little brother and still getting excited over little things Ty does.

Words are coming, slowly but surely he is getting more and more out that we understand. so things seem to be pretty great on our little hill :)

Confessions

Ok, so this might be a bit of a contradiction from my last post of "it's best to be vague" but I did say "sometimes" :). I'm pretty sure we all know that I am not perfect. There are lots of days that I feel like my "all" is not good enough for my boys (all 3 of them). There are days that I wonder why Ty was given this challenge? There are lots of days that I still think it's not fair. There are days that I think Tripp is getting the short end of the stick. There are still days that I get mad. Some days I cry. There are days that I pray constantly... and there are some days that I don't pray at all. There are days that I am on task and ready for whatever comes my way. There are those days that I feel like I'm backed into a corner with nothing but a shield blocking everything thrown my way. There are some days I feel like supermom and other days that I feel like I am just a shell of a person going through the motions of life.

Sam and I work multiple jobs and volunteer in our community & church. I am not telling you this as a pat on our back but just to let you know what we do with our time (just like any other family I am sure, again I am not saying we are any better than anyone else). But because of our lifestyle we rely on each other, our parents & an occasional babysitter to watch our boys when we have after hours activities, jobs, etc. And during the week our boys attend a daycare/preschool. There are times when I take a day or two to spend with my friends and have a girls night (usually I am gone less than 24 hours but rarely over 48 hours ... we love our kids and don't like to stay away to long). There are times that I send Sam on a fishing trip. And times that Sam & I just need a night out or in with just the two of us (usually its me asking more than sam lol). I do have 3 tattoos (the trinity on my back just below my neck, stick people on my right foot, and the most recent puzzle pieces with scripture ref on my left foot) all located in places that can easily be hidden or shown depending on how i feel :).

So to some people I am disrespectful (bc of the tattoos) and a bad parent bc I can't be home 24/7. It's crazy how the people you respect the most are the ones that criticize you the most... no worries right! We still have lots of family and friends that love and support us and I am grateful for every single one of you!

James 1:2-4 "... consider it pure joy my brothers when you face trials of many kinds ..."

"pure joy" this is me confessing that I am still working on that

No I am not perfect but neither is anyone else ... and I know everyone out there has something they are dealing with that just seems like no matter what you do you can't change the minds of those that don't understand. Sometimes it's just best to get up and brush that dust off and keep moving... I'm not looking for pitty or an "atta girl" I guess I just want people to know that no matter what life throws your way Jesus gives you the strength to get through it... and it's ok to be transparent, right?